Video surveillance is being used more and more today. A problem arises when an operator observer has been viewing a monitor for a significant period of time or a group of monitors. When there has been no change in a monitor for a period of time, the observer loses his attention to detail and eventually the image, that he expects to see is burned into his mind. A second issue arises when the observer is required to view a plurality of monitors. Only one scene, monitor, may be changing but the operator must check all monitors to ensure there is not a true target in that scene. If the observer can make a quick glance at the other monitors and determine that there is no cue and thus no new true target or true target motion then a greater time can be spent dwelling on the scene that is changing. It is also well documented that the probability of detection, recognition and identification is dependent upon the time studying the image.
There have been a multitude of schemes proposed to address this issue based on a variation in the scene. Unfortunately, none of these schemes takes into account the power of the human observer. The human mind connected to the eye is one of the most powerful computers known. It can interpolate data based on history. It can reject false alarms based on similar patterns. It can identify true targets based on patterns and changes in patterns. It can interpolate missing pieces of data. The problem is that the mind gets bored when there are none of the above functions to perform.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a system and method capable of implementation in a processor, such as a DSP, for detecting real-time change in an image that takes advantage of the image-processing power of the human mind.